A look back at a few memorable showdowns in the last decade and half that had the quintessential crests and troughs of Test cricket.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the 1st Test between England and India at Headingley in Leeds on Monday.
India opener KL Rahul made a leap of 18 slots, after his Player-of-the-Match effort that helped India defeat South Africa by 113 runs in the first Test, to reach No. 31 among batters in the latest ICC Test rankings.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi says he will look to do two times better for his team Rajasthan Royals in next year's Indian Premier League.
A superb unbeaten century from Ollie Pope helped drag England back into the first Test against India at Headingley on Saturday, with the home side closing Day 2 on 209/3.
'We're witnessing the rise of a phenom.'
Gavaskar didn't mince words as he tore into India's sub-par work in the field, both in terms of dropped chances and overall outfielding.
'I was preparing for this moment for a long time and I am happy that it worked out the way I wanted.'
Reeza Hendricks and Dewald Brevis produced fireworks with the bat as MI Cape Town defeated Pretoria Capitals by 27 runs to send their opponents out of SA20's play-offs race in Centurion.
Conceding that India could not get the first innings score they were looking in the first Test against England, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak felt Rishabh Pant's stroke-filled 134 was different from his usual aggressive knock.
Royals invested in Suryavanshi's talent by spending Rs 1.10 crore at the mega auction last year, almost four times his base price of Rs 30 lakh.
India will be looking for another favorable result to extend their lead in the World Test Championships standings.
Karun Nair's struggles at the crucial No. 3 position is a big headache for Team India.
As he closes the most revered chapter of his career, here are some of his best Test knocks:
Aiden Markram hopes South Africa's ICC World Test Championship Final win over Australia has silenced any doubters and consigned their 'chokers' tag to history.
K L Rahul would look to make the most of his first red-ball outing in months ahead of the upcoming Test series against England.
Suryavanshi has already played for India U-19s and made his first-class debut in January 2024.
Proteas edge Pakistan to win thriller at Centurion
His effort along with Sadeera Samarawickrama's (108 off 89 balls) maiden ODI ton saw Sri Lanka post a massive 344 for nine in their 50 overs.
K L Rahul drove his way to a sublime 47 after England negated India's advantage by totalling 465 in their first innings as the visitors had another ordinary day in the field on Day 3 of the first Test in Leeds on Sunday.
Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya added another milestone to his name, completing 200 international wickets
His Bradmanesque sequence of scores in domestic cricket in recent years have mingled with the most testing time of his career, but Karun Nair picks the "end of 2022" as the toughest he has had to endure, describing it as "quite a dark place."
Opener Ben Duckett hit the most defining century of his career, exposing an out-of-depth Indian attack as England comfortably chased down a tricky target of 371 to win the opening Test by five wickets.
Centurion is situated 1300 metres above sea level, which means a higher altitude where bowlers can get tired quickly and in case of four bowlers, there remains a possibility of them getting tired.
Opener Reeza Hendricks smashed 117 runs from 63 balls to guide South Africa to a seven-wicket victory over Pakistan in the second Twenty20 International at Centurion Park on Friday as they claimed the three-match series 2-0 with a game to spare.
The bungalow is named Veena Palace after his mother.
14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi became the youngest centurion in T20 cricket as he fired Rajasthan Royals to an emphatic eight-wicket victory over Gujarat Titans.
Suryavanshi has the licence to express himself: Bond stands by teenager after MI setback
A look back at some of the most painful moments when South Africa came heartbreakingly close -- but always fell short -- before finally breaking the curse at Lord's.
Images from Day 4 of the second Test between England and India at Edgbaston, in Birmingham, on Saturday.
Joe Root delivered a T20 masterclass to steer the Royals to an equally thrilling eight-wicket victory over Pretoria Capitals at Centurion.
The squad also features Karun Nair, who returns to the national set up after a long gap of eight years.
David Miller's 100 came off 67 balls. Virender Sehwag took 77 balls for his century.
Raised by his mother Karen-Anne, Corbin and his younger brother Eathan, who also plays for South Africa, pursued cricket in honour of their late father's legacy.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami took three wickets each as the tourists bowled South Africa out for 191 to claim an emphatic 113-run victory just after lunch on the fifth day of the first Test in Centurion on Thursday.
Better weather is forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, but India will have to quicken the pace of their innings if they are to drive home their advantage.
'I took pills for the cramps. I feel the recent scores helped me in this innings. The wicket was tacky and two-paced, I just wanted to capitalise on the start and I was able to do that.'
IMAGES from Day 2 of the 1st Test between England and India at Headingley in Leeds on Saturday.
South Africa have now won six successive Tests, starting with success in the West Indies in August and following it with two-Test series wins in Bangladesh and then home to Sri Lanka last month.
